The Lighthouse's Interesting Symbols

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I think he went crazy after the shit flew back in his face

My take on the movie is that it's all about cycles and repetitions. Winslow tries to run away from his past, but it always comes back to him. Tom killed the last guy in order to get control of the light, but someone did the same to him. Tom coherced and dehumanized Winslow because he was in a position of power, but the tables turned and Winslow did the same to him. Even the island is damned to repeat its story, as we see someone had already been stranded there before. Just like Prometheus is damned to have his liver eaten by a bird every day and then regenerate only in order for the torture to start again.

The aspect ratio, for me, added to the claustrophobia big time.

Very great analysis but for some weird reason I felt scared after the movie while not feeling scared while watching the movie.

The laser beams out of his eyes is the light that Pattinson can’t hide from anymore now that his beans are spilled.

thx for not titling this “tHe LiGhtHoUse EnDiNg ExPlAinEd” - very thoughtful analysis, glad I found this

Genuinely laughing throughout the movie but pretty scared after finishing it.

I thought the story was very Sisyphean. Winslow, seeing as the duties of the lighthouse were almost solely dependent on him, could not "win". His carrying of the enormous barrel of oil up the stairs of the lighthouse and then being forced to bring it back down, along his fall down the stairs at the end (following the brutal struggle with Wake beforehand) strongly compare to Sisyphus' task to push a great boulder up a hill only for it to roll down on top of him, forcing him to push from the start again. Winslow's tasks on the island also drive this theme of unwinnable challenges in -- emptying chamberpots against a headwind or pushing a charcoal wheelbarrow in the slick mud of a tempest. The gulls as well serve this metaphor, as Sisyphus was feasted upon by a murder of crows at the end of his tale. Another notable Greek plagued by the corvid horde was Prometheus, who granted man the knowledge of flame's creation from the heavens. After betraying Zeus and the Titans, Prometheus was cursed to a fate of being tied to a boulder (mirroring Winslow's fate of being stuck on the island, often referred to as a rock) while crows or eagles pecked at his organs. This could compare strongly to the end, where Winslow is feasted upon by the gulls, naked and blind, his Sisyphean task failed for the final time. The Sisyphus metaphor goes deeper, as well. Even in his relationship with Wake, Winslow could not "win". Nothing he did pleased his so-called better, and even the praise he received at being a "wickie in the making" only led to immediate scorn the moment he asked about the light. This also mirrors Prometheus, whose curiosity about the light and eagerness to learn ultimately led to be his own downfall. Take it or leave it.

Thomas's monologue could support him being Proteus. He tells Triton to, "hark", which means to listen closely. He calls Neptune father aswell.

Finally! After like 10 bullshit videos claiming to explain the ending, one that finally has some substance. And no other video talks about Winslow changing accents. I thought I was the only one who noticed it.

“Ye like me lobster, don’t Ye?”

My perspective of the ending was that there was nothing special in the lighthouse. Winslow expected something out of the ordinary from the very beginning since Thomas was very overprotective of the lighthouse and it was always on Winslow's mind and the curiosity kept growing inside him throughout the film. The supernatural things he saw was just the result of this his imagination affected by his growing curiosity and anticipation. After he killed Thomas to get up there, he painted his face to prepare for something special. When he got up there, he noticed that the hatch wasn't even locked and the light-bulb door wasn't even closed. When he finally stood there and looked directly into the light, there was nothing there, just pure light and when he realized this, he went completely mad as he realized that all the struggle and anticipation that he had was for absolutely nothing and thus started to laugh hysterically and accidentally falling backwards and down the stairs.

"...as one can guess from his farts, thomas was gaslighting winslow the whole time..." lol this interpretation is my favourite

What Defoe and Pattinson did here was true acting! Great performance by both! Only a deep and credible acting can turn a two character movie into a masterpiece!

The is closest to my own interpretation. After the end of the film, I came to the conclusion that none of what happened was real. The Island was purgatory, and the Light House was God, when Thomas ascended to the top, he was judged and cast down, because he did not repent for murder in his actual life. Thomas Wake, Willem Defoes character was simply another aspect of Toms psyche, that he chose to reject and ultimately kill. What led me to believe they were the same character is Wake also had a broken leg, the same very leg Pattison broke on his fall.

For me the movie is a wonderful dissecation and analyses of masculinity in all aspects, good and bad. Being laconic, fighting for dominance, reaffirmation, wrath, desire and madness. Is a great duo with "the witch" that kinda explores female energy. But the lighthouse goes in way deeper

In a very well-known and influential poem called 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner', written by Samuel Coleridge, the killing of a seabird also brings about the wrath of God.

Just an idea, I kind of got the impression that Thomas (older man) was Ephraim's past self, the one he left behind to start new. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember a scene when Thomas was chasing Ephrim with an axe but then after (Thomas) said something along the lines of "you ran at me trying to kill me with that axe just now" it kind if seemed like they were the same person. When ephraim was treating Thomas like a dog, it was him trying to dominate his past, and burying him, of course, meaning he was burying his past. All the times when Thomas was aggravating Ephraim it was his past nagging at him, digging into him. Also, they kind of adopted the same name, and even the fact that the old man had killed his lighthouse hand was like how Ephrim killed his old boss. Idk, I feel like a lot of it was him fighting with his past, just one interpretation among many though :)

The part where they're about to kiss and then they start fighting, I'm guessing that's the sexuality power dynamic at play